Who agrees with Dean Walcott?
I do. He was dead-on when he said "Patients don't need a friend. They don't need to be entertained. They need a doctor".
shareYou know what a doctor does? They're not just professional and cold, they want to know WHY you bother them by coming to see them when you're sick, why you waste their precious time by needing them. And if you get sick a lot, they have no problem saying they're sick of seeing you, instead of saying they'll try to figure out why this keeps happening and try to help you. No, I don't need a doctor, not that kind anyway, I'd rather take my chances at home by myself.
shareI personally don't want an annoying,clown-shoe wearing doctor tending to me. there is a reason for the professional distance that doctors must keep.
A doctor does not have to be like Patch Adams to be a good,caring doctor. I have a doctor who cares about me but he doesn't do that balloon animal-making,rubber nose-wearing schtick.
And that interferes with his ability to be a doctor how?
shareA doctor needs to remain objective because if his/her emotions get in the way it can cloud their thinking. They need to be focused on the problem without getting overly involved with the patient.
shareTreat the disease, you either win or lose, treat the patient, and you win. Wasn't that what he said? And it's true, you can't cure all patients, but somebody who DOES get involved with them can make it a little easier when they're facing what little time they have left.
shareAt any rate,I wanted to smack Robin Williams.He was annoying as hell in this movie. He was far too sanctimonious.
I'm in love with Bob Gunton,so maybe I'm just biased as far as the characters are concerned.
I liked him in this, and I'm not a huge fan of his. But I also like the real Patch Adams as well, and him a lot more.
shareThis movie is way too sappy to be taken seriously. Those sick children should not have been at the trial. That was really dumb.
shareWhy? They leave their sickbeds, in exchange for fresh air, and go to support a man who has gone out of his way to help make them feel better in a way the oh so serious modern medicine could not. He was their friend and helped them, and they returned the favor.
shareThey are sick and they have weakened immune systems. Hello?
shareAnd hospitals are infested with millions of germs and outside is fresh air and vitamins in the sun's rays, hello?
shareSo,by that reasoning,hospitals should allow sick people to roam around outside without any equipment to keep them alive?
People do die in the hospital but hospitals are cleaned and disinfected with the strongest possible chemicals so that peole do not get sick. There's no way a hospital can be overrun with germs.
Use your head.
What equipment were those children hooked up to in the hospital to stay alive? That's right, none.
And you know what? Hospitals can spray all the disinfectant all they want, there are still germs, and they still get passed from the patients onto the staff and then onto the new patients. That's one reason a lot of women opt for at-home births. That's also why when my grandmother broke her arm and stayed in the hospital, my sister got her out after one night because that wing was full of people hacking all night with flu and pneumonia, and that's the last thing a 93 year old woman needs.
I agree with the Dean. There is a good reason they don't allow surgeons to operate on or doctors to treat relatives, particularly their own children in a hospital. Not only do emotions get in the way of rational thinking thus perhaps endangering the patient, think about the great damage that can be done to the doctor or surgeon if the relative dies. Not being emotionally attached to someone is not the same thing as being indifferent to them. You don't have to be emotionally involved with someone to care if they live or die.
shareWell considering the worldwide support Patch gets from millions of people, apparently there are a lot of people who don't agree with Dean.
shareNova, i don't need my doctors to be all warm and fuzzy. What could stand improvement though is the hospital setting itself. Most just strike me as fairly cold and clinical not to mention that silly hospital gown they require you to wear. Warm-colored rooms and wood paneling would go a long way towards making the rooms more home-like and less depressing. How about easy-to-remove pajamas to replace that awful gown.
shareWhat IS the deal with those damn gowns? What fruitcake thought them up as a one size fits all solution to what patients wear?
shareOne thing I read about the gowns was that they supposedly allow hospital staff to have easier access to a patient's body in case there is trouble. It's hard to see how though since they tie in the back and don't allow access from the front. Pajamas with velcro instead of buttons would to me be a better alternative.
When I visited the ER after a bad fall I was forced to wear a gown. Right away I felt reduced as a human being and understood that I was on the bottom of the social scale with all the other gown wearers. When i checked out of the ER and put my regular clothes back on, I felt like a real person again.
On a nursing forum a nurse did state that the medical staff of hospitals tend to think of themselves as better that their patients. It's a combination of arrogance and mental defense against all the sickness and death that they see. This is why you see so many downright obese nurses and doctor's who smoke and drink. They view themselves as people who will never need to be a patient, they will never become one of " them ". " Them " means you and me, anyone who is not a medical professional of some sort.
This is why not only doctors but also nurses tend to make really lousy patients.
People do recover better at home or at least in a home-like room than they do in a traditional hospital type setting. They simply have a much better attitude in a warm-looking environment than in a cold-looking one, and that helps greatly in their bodies recovery. So it's not just an aesthetic issue but a valid medical one.
I kind of have to think that the gowns were intentionally designed to humiliate the patients and put them in their place.
Back to the original topic, i don't need a doctor who is funny, witty, or cute. I do need one who is honest and not openly displaying arrogance towards me.
Well coming from a family with a long list of medical issues I feel Patch Adams is a breath of fresh air. He not only cares but does his job well. What is wrong with that? Tired of doctors not giving a *beep* and making people feel worse. Hell sometimes they don't even read the damn chart. Its about improving quality of life if not the disease.
shareI can't believe you're actually bitching and whining about medical gowns. I've seen some stupid people complain about medical practices but this is just asinine.
shareHow does acting like a total buffoon "treat the patient"???
"I really wish Gia and Claire had became Tanner" - Honeybeefine